I spent six years working as a lawyer and absolutely despised it. Early on during this hell I rediscovered a curiosity in programming I had as a child. I became obsessed with it and within about six months knew I had to try to do it as a career.

It took me four years but I did it. What I will say is this -- I have definitely lost a hobby, in the sense that a hobby should be something that allows you to be creative while not feeling or reminding you of work. While I was still a lawyer, software dev (and learning it) was my hobby. I would be at work dreaming of coming home so I could tweak whatever project I was working on.

Now that I'm getting paid for it, I am completely in love with my job. Partly it's that I work for a great company now -- e.g., we get 25 days PTO (and yes, it's an American company, and no, I'm not a senior level). But partly it's that I spent time on the other side -- doing something purely because it provided me with money. Is programming work now? Yes, definitely -- but it's work I love doing.

However, I realized quickly after I started that I no longer felt like programming very much when I came home. I know that's kind of a no-no to admit to in this field, but it's true. I still do go through phases where I'll go really deep on some project for a while. But mostly I'm content to let my programming happen on the job. When I do program at home, it's still fun but it's colored by all the new relationships the activity has to work.

There’s still a world of difference between hobby and professional software development. In hobby software you fix the bugs that you fix; in professional software you fix the bugs that your paying customers hit. I think it’s why free software has had limited success in end-user applications.

A different take: in professional software, you fix the things your boss tells (or allows) you to fix, while in free software, you fix the things that need to be fixed. I think that's why I find most commercial software to be a trash fire compared to free software.

In application software? Which ones, specifically?

I can see that, what I'm trying to say though is that I don't know in which category I fit: hobby and professional are bot very engaging, sometimes I want to work at the stuff fot my job, other times for my pet projects. How would you define this given the premise of the op?

Loving what you do is the key to having a happy work life, not doing what you love. Your approach seem to embody that concept.

That could be a thing, but I achieved this unconsciously, so it's all luck.

By contrast, I was miserable through the entirety of high school and a good chunk of university: I _really wanted to code_ and nothing else at the time. For the surrounding parts of being a developer, I think I appreciate those more or less by maturing taste. Same way as the first beer you have is terrible, then you discover the interesting parts.

Also yes, I'm very happy at work, I was happy even in bad situations for some weird reason. But I'm also very happy in life in general, so it's probably a combination of both.